Securing Composite Objects Using Digital Fingerprints

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the expected location of one of the plurality of regions is specified relative to the expected location of another of the plurality of regions.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein the expected location of one of the plurality of regions is specified relative to the composite physical object as a whole.

6. The system of claim 3 wherein the expected location of one of the plurality of regions is specified as: X, Y; X, Y, Z; or X, Y, Z, T coordinates.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the information includes digital fingerprints, content, positional information, or any combination thereof.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of regions include at least one region on each of two equal halves of the composite physical object.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of regions coincides with a substrate of the composite physical object without additional content, and at least one of the plurality of regions coincides with content printed on the substrate of the composite physical object.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the content printed on the substrate includes a photograph, text, or both.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to process the digital image data and extract digital fingerprints of each of the plurality of regions, and each digital fingerprint is based solely on one or more native features of the composite physical object and not based on any identifier, label, or other proxy added to the composite physical object for identification or authentication.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the document is a passport, a negotiable instrument, or a driver's license.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising an input device configured to capture the at least one digital image of the composite physical object and to generate the digital image data.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic apparatuses are printed circuit boards.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising a scanner configured for scanning the identified plurality of regions of the composite physical object and to generate the digital image data.